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The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a new conceptual model in an online service context. The model focuses on an important, yet often neglected customer-oriented construct, i.e., user “control”, which is embedded in consumer behaviour when accessing the internet. The study examines the relationship between control, online dependency, online encounter satisfaction and overall satisfaction. It explains the strategic implications surrounding customer control and online dependency as means for enhancing customer satisfaction.

A questionnaire was developed drawing on a combination of existing and new measurement items for the constructs in question. The instrument was later pilot tested on two consecutive occasions ahead of the main survey. A random sample of Hong Kong banking consumers was approached and interviews were undertaken via telephone. The data were analysed via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses relating to the model.

The findings reveal positive relationships between control and online dependency, and control and online encounter satisfaction. Meanwhile control, online dependency and online encounter satisfaction lead to overall satisfaction.

This study proposes a counterintuitive argument that while online service customers gain control of the online service process, they become more dependent on it, and their control and dependency also lead to their satisfaction, at both the online service encounter level and corporate level. Drawing on the pertinent literature, this is the first study to examine the importance of two information system constructs, i.e., control and online dependency, as predictors of consumer psychological fulfilment, i.e., satisfaction. The findings confirm that control as an initiator and driver of customer satisfaction in an online context, and online encounter satisfaction, further contributes to overall satisfaction at the corporate level.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate trust in salespersons of direct selling companies. The major purpose of the study is to examine three alternative measures of trust and to assess the effects of consumer trust in the direct selling salesperson on intended purchase behavior in a non‐Western culture, Hong Kong.

The research was designed as a personal interview survey of purchasers and non‐purchasers of product from direct selling companies in Hong Kong. A street‐intercept method of personal interview was used in three major shopping areas. The major measurement was of three different measures of trust in buying behavior from direct selling companies.

Survey results show that the measures of trust are not equally significant in being related to intention to repurchase. Only one measure, “Affect Trust”, is statistically correlated to repurchase intention. This measure is based on emotions which are affective in nature.

Gaining trust is crucial to all salespeople, industrial and consumer alike, as trust facilitates an exchange relationship while mistrust hinders it. Consequently, having valid measures of trust is essential to ensuring that exchange relations are positive. The research to date has been in the context of Western cultures and is dated (ten or more years ago). The paper examines trust in a non‐Western culture. In addition, the sales relationships studied in the past have been non‐direct selling. The paper expands this domain as it looks at direct selling to consumers in a non‐fixed business location.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of Twitter in business as a medium for knowledge sharing and to crowdsource information to support innovation and enhance business relationships in the context of business-to-business (B2B) marketing.

This study uses a combination of methodologies for gathering data in 52 face-to-face interviews across five countries and the downloaded posts from each of the interviewees' Twitter accounts. The tweets were analysed using structural topic modelling (STM), and then compared to the interview data. This method enabled triangulation between stated use of Twitter and respondent's actual tweets.

The research confirmed that individuals used Twitter as a source of information, ideas, promotion and innovation within their industry. Twitter facilitates building relevant business relationships through the exchange of new, expert and high-quality information within like-minded communities in real time, between companies and with their suppliers, customers and also their peers.

As this study covered five countries, further comparative research on the use of Twitter in the B2B context is called for. Further investigation of the formalisation of social media strategies and return on investment for social media marketing efforts is also warranted.

This research highlights the business relationship building capacity of Twitter as it enables customer and peer conversations that eventually support the development of product and service innovations. Twitter has the capacity for marketers to inform and engage customers and peers in their networks on wider topics thereby building the brand of the individual users and their companies simultaneously.

This study focuses on interactions at the individual level illustrating that Twitter is used for both customer and peer interactions that can lead to the sourcing of ideas, knowledge and ultimately innovation. The study is novel in its methodological approach of combining structured interviews and text mining that found the topics of the interviewees' tweets aligned with their interview responses.

Nowadays with the rapid growth of futures market, trust issues are increasing, especially, for individual traders because of the existing risks. However, to date there is no study that focuses on trust issues within online futures market and risks that threaten individual traders. This paper aims to understand trust issues in online futures market.

This study adopts an in-depth qualitative approach of online futures market in Malaysia through 30 interviews include senior managers, managers and individual traders who involve in futures online trading from three brokerage firms. Using agency theory, a new scale model, this study provides understanding on trust issues for traders in online futures market.

The paper provides empirical insights about trust issues that will occur as a result of information, risk and goal asymmetries between traders and brokers in online futures market. It suggests licensed and registered broker, platform familiarity, platform accessibility and usability, flexible contract size and leverage, providing segregated account and appropriate devices as key elements to overcome the mentioned asymmetries.

This is the first paper to investigate existing risk in online futures market and provide valuable implications for both traders and brokers to reduce the risk and increase the traders’ trust.

The purpose of this paper is to assess critically the political challenges facing Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” policy following the Umbrella Movement and to evaluate the territory’s democratic and autonomous future.

A critical, contextual, and analytical approach has been adopted to evaluate the problems and prospects for post-Umbrella Movement Hong Kong.

The contradictions embedded in the “one country, two systems” policy have become apparent since the Umbrella Movement arose and Hong Kong’s political and democratic future is as problematic as its prospects are uncertain, though the possibility of some rapprochement between Hong Kong and Beijing should not be ruled out completely.

The critical evaluation offered by this paper is no scientific prediction. Social scientific analysis of this kind is suggestive rather than definitive. The informed discussion offered by this paper will help readers to better understand the strengths and weaknesses inherent in Beijing’s “one country, two systems” policy and the tortuous process of democratization in Hong Kong. The conclusion drawn in the paper points to a possible way out of the political impasse that is facing post-Umbrella Movement Hong Kong.

This paper is a pioneering study of the most important political conflict between Beijing and Hong Kong since 1997, the conclusion of which may have important political and policy implications for both China and Hong Kong.

This paper seeks to describe the development of a web‐based system for managing and assessing suppliers, presenting the system design and interface of the prototype and discussing the applicability of the system.

In this paper critical assessment criteria and factors for managing supplier quality (MSQ) were identified through literature review and a mail survey of manufacturers in Hong Kong. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process methodology, a self‐assessment model comprising these criteria and factors was developed. Industry experts were invited to determine the relative weighting of these criteria and factors. A software was developed to support the assessment system.

The findings in this paper identified criteria addressed strategic alliance, supplier development and supplier monitoring. The critical factors encompassed buyer‐supplier partnership, technology and information sharing, sourcing strategies, supplier evaluation and motivation, and issues on performance measurement and improvement. A self‐assessment model comprising these criteria and factors was developed.

The paper shows that in future work, more best practices of supplier management will be identified to enrich the knowledge base of the system in order to further develop the assessment system to an expert system.

The findings in this paper were incorporated to develop a prototype web‐based system for self‐assessment with promising industrial validation results.

In this paper, a novel self‐assessment system was developed for supplier quality management. It is of great value for quality management theory and practice.

This paper aims to explore the role of source credibility while purchasing environment-friendly products using Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior as underpinning model.

The proposed theoretical model was empirically tested with the data collected from 334 respondents using structural equation modeling.

The results gave empirical support to the addition of source credibility to the original theory of planned. Moreover, consumer attitude was found mediating the effect of corporations’ credibility on purchase intention. Also, attitude and perceived behavioral control were found as the most important predictors of consumer’s intention to purchase environment-friendly products.

This study provides valuable insights for the marketers engaged in sustainable business practices. Amid, ever-increasing carbon emission, promoting the use of environment-friendly products has become the need of the time. Credibility plays a crucial role while promoting and communicating an organization’s sustainable practices among its stakeholders including consumers. Therefore, the marketer should formulate appropriate marketing communication strategy to communicate the consumer about the green practices and environment-friendly products they produce. The results suggest that corporation’s credibility shapes consumer attitude and influences intention to purchase environment-friendly products. Earning trust of the consumer is pivotal to achieve success in the market. Therefore, results may help the marketers to better understand consumer’s response toward their marketing strategies and further convince and persuade them to buy their products.

The findings of this study may be useful for marketers, strategists, policymakers and government while formulating promotional strategies to make consumer aware, educate and persuade them to purchase products which do not cause harm to the environment.

The study is novel in terms of exploring role of source credibility and extending theory of planned behavior in the context of sustainable consumption.